England - London • TMT (technology, media and telecoms)

4

Sport

Armstrong Teasdale

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Event management specialists Armstrong Teasdale support a number of major competitions, such as The All-England Lawn Tennis Club, the London Marathon and EUFA, with an exhaustive range of relevant issues, including delivery and supplier agreements, security contracts, venue agreements, data protection, and concession contracts. The practice is headed up by Zane Shihab, while James Thorndyke focuses on regulatory and disciplinary issues, often in the public eye. Thorndyke also assists on issues involving the illegal buying and selling of sporting events tickets. Consultant Nick Bitel supports Shihab on the drafting and negotiation of regulations in the equestrian space.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Strong industry knowledge. Provide practical and commercially-minded advice.’

  • ‘James Thorndyke consistently provides sensible and practical guidance and is excellent in client management matters.'

  • Zane Shihab has very strong industry knowledge.’

  • ‘Strong sports law team with good experience in niche areas like ticketing.’

  • ‘James Thorndyke and Zane Shihab are both exceptional lawyers.’

  • ‘An extremely impressive sports law team, with outstanding clients. The team adopts a very hands-on, client focused approach.’

  • ‘James Thorndyke is an excellent partner: very clever and excellent on the law, while remaining very commercially minded and client focused.'

  • Emma Shaw is an excellent practitioner, with skill well beyond her years of qualification. A star in the making.’

Key clients

  • UEFA
  • All England Lawn Tennis Club (Championships) Limited
  • London Marathon Events Limited
  • Rugby Football Union
  • Chelsea Football Club
  • World Marathon Majors
  • Racehorse Owners Association
  • W Series
  • Thoroughbred Group
  • Azam Media Limited
  • One Football GmbH
  • Joymo AS
  • Citizen Ticket
  • Blackburn Rovers Football Club
  • Bloodstock Industry Forum
  • Copa 90
  • Brighton Marathon

Work highlights

  • Advised The All England Lawn Tennis Club (Championships) Limited (AELTC) on the legal issues arising in connection with their proposed decision to prevent Russian and Belarusian tennis players from competing at the Wimbledon Championships 2022.
  • Advised London Marathon Events Limited year-round, culminating in the London Marathon, including drafting and negotiating all commercial contracts required to stage the event, running the brand protection programme and providing advice on the full range of commercial, data and intellectual property matters.
  • Advised the AELTC on all matters in relation to the staging of The Championships, including ticketing, running AELTC’s anti-infringement policy to prevent unauthorised sales of tickets as well as hospitality and brand protection programmes.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame

The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.

Nick Bitel

Nick Bitel

Hall of fameArmstrong Teasdale LLP

Nick is known as one of the best sports lawyers in Britain today, and has been described by the Legal 500 as “an institution in the world of sports law”. He has an impressive track record in advising some of the world's most iconic sports events and has lectured widely on Sports Law both in the UK and abroad. Nick has been the Chief Executive of the London Marathon for over 25 years and has long experience as a board member for a number of sporting organisations, including Sport England and UK Sport.

Leading individuals

James Thorndyke

James Thorndyke

Armstrong Teasdale LLP

Partner in the Sports and Commercial Litigation departments.  James acts for sporting bodies as well as sports men and women, he has extensive experience in resolving contractual disputes in a variety of sports including motorsport, football, athletics, cricket and rugby union. James also has particular experience in advising on regulatory and disciplinary issues.  He has acted for clients in proceedings involving the Football Association, the British Horseracing Authority, the Motor Sports Association and the Football League.  James acts for event organisers and governing bodies in enforcing ticket terms and conditions to major sporting events.  This involves advising clients on the process of obtaining interim injunctions against third parties selling ticket only and or hospitality packages to well-known sporting events taking place in England and Wales without authority to do so, and acting for clients in the ensuing court proceedings. In addition, James has a substantial IP practice within which he advises and acts for companies and individuals in protecting their intellectual property, including advising on claims relating to copyright and trade mark infringement as well as in relation to pass off.  He is a keen advocate of Alternative Dispute Resolution and in particular, mediation, having settled a number of matters through the ADR processes.  James is a member of the British Association of Sports Law and has delivered lectures on topics including reputation management and basic contractual rights.  James has also written extensively on legal issues in sport.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Zane Shihab

Other key lawyers

James Thorndyke, Nick Bitel, Emma Shaw

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